Ode to Abby

Abby Thomas in
_A Three Dog Life_
chronicles her
knitting:

"112 shawls
1/2 sweater
1/4 sweater
47 hoodies
52 hats..."

No prologue.
No postcript.

The list concludes
a chapter sketching
her husband's latest decline.

Brain damaged after
being hit by a car
he lives only
in the moment.

Thomas records:
his loss of recognition
his absence
the void
and then his return
to present.

Abby Thomas' list...
a hybrid Haiku
sketches a portrait
of the woman...
and her situation
more detailed and intimate
than a thousand word tome.

Thomas edits
life to its essence.